Quote:
Originally Posted by 335okc
big picture: oil cools engine, coolant cools oil
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That's not exactly correct - oil temp should be kept in check to ensure proper viscosity. Too cold or too hot is bad. The coolant system cools the block and head, and oil to a lesser extent cools the reciprocating mass in the block, i.e. crank, pistons, rods, etc. Plenty of engines (lower HP engines) run fine on track without oil coolers even in race applications. If the temp doesn't exceed 240F, you don't really need an oil cooler.
Our engines, however, put out gobs of power for their size, and you need augmented water and oil cooling to prevent limp mode (which in turn prevents major failures) under track conditions.